Weight loss surgery, which in recent years has been seen as an increasingly attractive option for treating Type 2 diabetes, may not be as effective against the disease as it was initially thought to be, according to a new report. The study found that many obese Type 2 diabetics who undergo gastric bypass surgery do not experience a remission of their disease, and of those that do, about a third redevelop diabetes within five years of their operation. The findings contrast with the growing perception that surgery is essentially a cure for Type II diabetes. Earlier this year, two widely...

Several times a month I find myself delivering bad news to a patient: “You have diabetes.” The follow-up isn’t much better. The patient asks how to make it go away, and my response, often with a wistful sigh, is: “Right now, there’s nothing.” But that’s not quite the case any longer. Evidence is accumulating that bariatric surgery—an extreme measure for the very obese that involves reducing the size of the stomach to promote weight loss—may “cure” diabetes.

I'm scheduled to have Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Surgery on March 18th. It has taken me 3 years to get to this point but now that it's here I'm starting to wonder if I'm making the right decision. This is a really serious procedure that will completely alter my digestive system. Losing weight will be great but havng my diabetes cured will be wonderful.

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee vowed Tuesday to continue his campaign for the White House despite another loss to presumptive nominee Arizona Sen. John McCain in the Wisconsin GOP primary. "It's not about ego," Huckabee told reporters at the Peabody Hotel after he telephoned McCain to congratulate him on winning the Wisconsin primary. "Let me assure you that my ego doesn't enjoy these kind of evenings where we don't win the primary election," he said, adding there are several issues, such as pro-life and taxes, he wants to continue to speak out on and hopes to do so at the...

I am disappointed in the tactics and statements of almost all the presidential candidates, both Democrats and Republicans. My grandmother used to say that you can tell just as big a lie with a half-truth and sometimes a bigger one. Take the half-truths said about Mike Huckabee and taxes. I lived in Arkansas when he was the governor. He did away with the marriage tax penalty and the capital gains tax on the sale homes. He doubled Arkansas' standard deduction and the child care tax credit. He slashed the capital gains tax for both individuals and businesses. In 2001, Mike...

With Mike Huckabee's sudden prominence in the 2008 GOP Presidential race has come greater scrutiny, of both the man and his record. Prominent in both is his famous weight loss saga, and as such it too merits scrutiny. In June 2003, Mike Huckabee was an obscure and obese (290 lb.) Arkansas Governor. By June 2004, Huckabee lost 110 lbs., which he attributed to diet and exercise. This feat naturally attracted media attention as a human-interest story, to which Huckabee added a public policy angle by also touting his anti-obesity public health initiative called Healthy Arkansas. This program included public service...

Christine is a Canadian, Amir a Bangladesh-born American and Hardeep a Sikh from the US. What binds them is their desperation to get freedom from those extra pounds through much cheaper surgery in Indian metros. They do not want to be anorexic but are desperate nevertheless to rid themselves of their obesity and lead a better life. Obese people across the world are flooding the email box of noted laparoscopic surgeons such as B. Ramana in Kolkata for dates to undergo operations. Kolkata is considered one of the emerging medical tourism destinations in India. "I am looking for a hospital...

-County employees would participate in pilot program- Travis County's top officials may decide today to offer weight-loss surgery to county employees, a step that is unusual but becoming increasingly popular with local governments. Under the pilot program being considered, the county would pay for up to 15 bariatric surgeries — or trimmings of the digestive tract — per year. The program would last five years. Each procedure would cost the county $15,000 to $25,000, according to reports to the county commissioners, who will decide whether to adopt the program. Employees would have to meet requirements to be eligible, including a...